Latin rock pioneer Carlos Santana has reunited with his “classic” early band for their first album together in 45 years.
The band, which takes its name from the guitarist's surname, announced that it would release the 16-track album Santana IV – following on from 1971's Santana III – on April 15.
However, local fans will be disappointed to hear this classic line-up will not be the version of the band that takes to the stage at Santana’s gig at the Dubai Jazz Festival on February 26, promoters Chill Out confirmed.
Santana IV notably marks the return to the band of Neal Schon, who debuted on Santana III as a teenage guitar prodigy and later became famous as the frontman of Journey. T
he album will also feature vocals on two songs by Ronald Isley, the lead singer of R&B legends The Isley Brothers. A first single, Anywhere You Want to Go, will be released on February 5. – The National Staff
Prince Narula wins Bigg Boss Nau
Prince Narula emerged as the winner of Indian reality-TV show Bigg Boss Nau in Saturday's grand finale, which featured a host of celebrities, including host Salman Khan and actress Katrina Kaif.
It was the third time that Chandigarh-based Prince has won a reality show – he was has previously victorious on MTV Roadies X2 and MTV Splitsvilla 8.
Prince, 25, was competing in the grand finale against wildcard entrant Rishabh Sinha, who was the runner-up, followed by actress Mandana Karimi in third place and model Rochelle Rao in fourth. – IANS
Blur’s Damon Albarn to reunite Syrian orchestra
British singer Damon Albarn is to reunite the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music – whose members were forced to flee the country by the civil war – as part of the First World War centenary celebrations.
The orchestra, which performed with Albarn at the Damascus Opera House in 2008 and appeared on the song White Flag by his band Gorillaz, will play at London's Royal Festival Hall on June 25, as part of the 14-18-NOW events.
The event will highlight the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Middle East into Western spheres of influence, which organisers said “fostered instabilities... that continue to cause conflict today.”
Albarn, the frontman of Blur, who performed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, said he had “watched from a distance and felt utterly helpless, wondering about all of the lovely people I’ve got to know” as orchestra members fled Syria when it descended into civil war. – AFP
Radiohead to perform new album at Primavera
Radiohead will perform a long-awaited new album in June, when the experimental rockers headline Barcelona’s Primavera Sound.
After years of speculation about the band’s recording plans, they appear to have broken the news in a characteristically unorthodox way – a line buried in a press release.
Primavera Sound, in the announcement of the line-up for the event, which runs from June 1 to 4, said it will include “the presentation of the new album by the British band Radiohead.” The band made no comment other than to link on social media to the announcement and to reveal plans to play at two other festivals, Open Air St, Gallen in Switzerland and Nos Alive in Lisbon.
The new studio album would be the band's first since 2011's King of the Limbs. Radiohead members hinted throughout last year that they were in the studio but revealed few details.
On Christmas Day, Radiohead offered on its website an unreleased song that had been planned as the theme to the latest James Bond film, Spectre, but for unspecified reasons did not make the cut. – AFP
Iggy Azalea’s wedding demands
Rapper Iggy Azalea is reportedly planning two wedding ceremonies and wants “bejewelled white horses” at each one.
The Fancy hitmaker is organising her nuptials to basketball player Nick Young and won't be sparing any expense for the festivities – she is even considering walking down the aisle twice, according to femalefirst.co.uk.
A source told Heat magazine: "She wants one in Australia, where she's from, and another in Nick's hometown of LA. She wants 20 bejewelled white horses and a $100,000 firework display at both. She's insisting on more than 250 guests for each ceremony and is also pushing for two honeymoons – one to Fiji and the second to Hawaii. They're looking at a bill close to US$500,000."
Young recently said he was finding planning the wedding a “nightmare” and had decided to give in to Azalea’s demands.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It takes a lot of time and compromising and arguing but eventually the women always win. I think [wedding days] should just be women’s day.” – IANS